Heath's Modern Language Series: Mariucha

Cesáreo. (Fija la vista en el suelo, fatigado.) Soy justiciero.355

María. No puede ser justiciero el que antes no sabe ser justo.

Cesáreo. (Aterrado por la voz y la presencia de María.) ¡María!

María. (Serena y grave.) Hermano querido: ni las360 acciones violentas ni las voces airadas valen conmigo. Con pocas palabras pondré yo fin a esta lucha, y haré que prevalezca sobre tu justicia egoísta y menguada, la verdadera justicia. ¿Decides matarle? Pues también a mí.365

Cesáreo. (Vacilante, turbado.) Matar... matar no.

María. ¿Decides el tormento curial, legal, o como quieras llamarlo? Pues aquí estoy para compartirlo. (Aparece el Cura por la puerta del foro.)

Alcalde. (Entrando presuroso por el fondo.) Señor370 don Cesáreo, el maldito Cura pretende ganarnos la partida.

Cesáreo. (Alarmado.) ¿Qué hay?

León. (Que ha hablado con don Rafael.) Nada, que cuando la razón quiere vencer, emplea los medios más375 sencillos. Como es inquebrantable resolución de María compartir mi suerte...

Don Rafael. (Vivamente, adelantándose.) Y como no es decoroso que, al partir hoy los señores Marqueses, permanezca en Agramante su hija... soltera...380

Cesáreo. Yo he determinado que parta con nosotros.

Don Rafael. Espérese un poco... yo he determinado casarla.

Cesáreo. ¡Oh burla villana, desprecio de mi nombre,385 de mi familia!

Alcalde. (Furioso.) Esto no puede ser. Yo mando que...

Don Rafael. Y yo desobedezco... No te canses en mandar cosa alguna. Aquí, señor Duque, aquí mismo390 les caso.

Cesáreo. ¡Pero se atreve...!

Don Rafael. ¡Que si me atrevo! Van a verlo. (Dirígese a la habitación del fondo; abre la puerta. Se ve que están improvisando una capilla. En la mesa del395 fondo han puesto ya un paño de altar y el Santo Cristo. Continúan preparando y adornando el altar.)

Alcalde. ¿Qué hacen ahí?

Don Rafael. Todo está bien dispuesto, y no faltará ningún requisito.400

Cesáreo. (Airado.) ¿Pero no sabe usted que incurre en responsabilidad?

Don Rafael. Firme en mi conciencia, yo afronto esa responsabilidad.

Alcalde. Se le formará proceso...405

Cesáreo. Le sentaremos la mano.

Don Rafael. Yo siento el pie sobre la cabeza del feudalismo... Cierto que no podré aplastarla; pero, por de pronto, hago rabiar al poderoso y le trastorno sus planes inicuos.410

Alcalde. Se incoará el expediente.

Don Rafael. Ello será inútil... y tonto, porque yo caso a estos jóvenes, y a ver, caballeros, quién es el guapo que los descasa.

María. Hermano mío, si la crueldad y el odio prevalecen415 en ti, aquí nos tienes: somos dos almas para el sufrimiento.

Cesáreo. El odio no existe. Otro sentimiento me mueve ya. (Volviéndose hacia el Alcalde.) Mi hermana ha muerto... Muerta la lloraremos... Vámonos.420

Don Rafael. En nombre de Cristo, yo le incito a usted a la concordia, a la mansedumbre, al amor. (Pausa.)

Cesáreo. (Vacilando, se pasa la mano por los ojos.) Quisiera... (Después de breve lucha interior.) No...425 imposible... imposible. (Para sí, consternado.) ¡Muerta Mariucha!... No puedo... no quiero verla... (Sale precipitadamente; tras él el Alcalde.)

Escena Última

Don Rafael. (Suspirando.) ¡Cómo ha de ser! (Dirígese a la habitación del fondo; se quita la esclavina.)430 ¿Está todo pronto? (Se ve que han puesto los candeleros. Encienden las velas. Cirila pone sobre el altar búcaros con flores. Don Rafael les da prisa; sacan las ropas, capa, estola, y las colocan sobre un sillón.)

María. (Afligida.) ¡Me lloran muerta!435

León. (Estrechándole las manos.) Los muertos son ellos, vida mía.

María. (Con efusión.) Yo vivo, sí; yo estoy viva. Vivo en mi conciencia, vivo en mis deberes, en las obligaciones de mi casa, de nuestra casa. Yo estoy viva. En440 mí rebosa la salud, estalla la alegría, y enciende el alma todas sus luces: la fe, la esperanza, el amor. Yo estoy viva. (Fijándose en el ventanal, ve que pasan sus padres por el exterior.) ¡Ah, León... míralos... mis padres...!445

León. Sí... Van hacia la estación.

María. (Acercándose.) Véalos yo un instante. ¡Pobres padres míos! Van tristes, agobiados...

León. Como si asistieran a su propio entierro.

María. (Con viva compasión.) Ya se alejan...450 Cesáreo se une a ellos... les habla... les dice que he muerto. Mira, mira... lloran... ¡Pobrecitos de mi alma!

León. Lloran; pero siguen... Se van... Por vanas pompas abandonan los afectos más puros...455

María. Aceleran el paso... Ya no les veo...

León. (Enlazándola por la cintura, la retira del ventanal.) Son la generación que fue, que ya vivió y pasa.

María. ¡Qué tristeza despedir a los que se van para460 siempre!

León. Consolémonos pensando en la eficacia de nuestro destino. Si una generación nos vuelve la espalda y desaparece, abramos nuestros brazos esperando a la que ha de venir.465

María. Delante de nosotros hay mucha vida, afanes, alegrías...

León. El cuidado inmenso de las vidas presentes... de las vidas futuras... (Aparece don Rafael en la puerta del foro, dispuesto a revestirse; tras él, el sacristán le ofrece470 la capa pluvial; el monaguillo le alarga la estola.)

Don Rafael. (Les llama con cariñosa jovialidad.) ¡Juventud... aquí! (María y León, lanzando una exclamación de júbilo, corren hacia él.)

NOTES

4. Displicente; the adjective is used, as often, where in English an adverb is better employed.

33. no lo son; lo acts as substitute for poderosos. It is invariable when the word referred to is an adjective or a noun in which the adjective sense predominates.

41. se ven y se desean para, they would give their eye-teeth to.

50. Por Cirila, referring to Cirila.

63-64. no es uno saco de paja... De menos nos hizo Dios, I'm not so bad. Men were created out of clay.

66. cualquiera me quitaba a mí esa niña; there are two idiomatic uses in this phrase: 1. cualquiera in an ironic sense = nadie (a frequent use); 2. quitaba = quitaría, a substitution of tense often found in the main clause of a contrary to fact, or less vivid future condition.

82. Hase; an enclitic object pronoun may be appended to the verb when it stands at the head of a sentence or phrase, and, less often, in other positions.

83. no se me escapa; compare the note above on quitaba. Here the desire for vivid expression has gone a step farther, and we have the present indicative replacing the perfect conditional.

137. las de González, the González ladies.

157. a eso voy, I'm coming to that.

241. ¡Qué paso lleva...! How fast he goes...!

248. no se dejará ahorcar por...: i.e., he would not stick at putting up a million pesetas if they were needed to save him from the gallows.

250. Hará; future of probability: I suppose he makes.

254. a retro; a legal term for a particular kind of conveyance, often used in Spain as a usurer's device, and best explained by an example. A house-owner wishes to raise money by giving a mortgage on his house. But if he is in straits, the lender may refuse to accept the mortgage as security, and demand a bill of sale of it, which contains a clause providing that the original owner may buy it back within a certain time (not over four years, unless more are stipulated in the deed, and never more than ten). This is called venta con pacto de retro, 'sale subject to redemption.' It saves the usurer the trouble of going to law to eject the borrower, and enables the former to charge enormous rates of interest under the guise of a sale. See Adolfo Posada, El derecho usual, p. 251.

259. Será; see note to Hará, line 250.

334-335. ¡Si está aquí, en el patio! Why, here she is, in the court! Observe the use of si, which has no connection with the word meaning 'yes'; this is the conjunction 'if,' and the main clause of the condition is not expressed. In the present case, it might be ¿por qué buscarla?

343. En el segundo patio; in Spain, large houses in the country are likely to have two patios, the first of which serves as the center of life for the owner's family, while the second, in the rear, and surrounded by the kitchen and servants' quarters, is the living room for the menials. In this case, the mansion has been converted into an apartment house, but the same distinction is preserved.

357. ¡Por cierto que pasé un susto...! I was surely startled! The que after cierto or por cierto is often not to be translated.

358. me da por verlo todo; See Vocabulary under dar. When todo is the object of a verb, it is usually, but not always, accompanied by the object pronoun lo.

366. Si; see note to lines 334-335.

404-405. no sé si reírme; supply debo after si.

492. el año de la Revolución de Septiembre; i.e., 1868. The Revolution began on September 19, under the leadership of Generals Prim and Serrano, and Vice-Admiral Topete. It drove Queen Isabel II from the throne, and initiated a six-year period of violent change and innovation, which ended only with the accession of Isabel's son Alfonso XII, in December, 1874.

520. La verdad... no quisiéramos..., The truth is—we would rather not!

647. se piense; subjunctive in a time clause when the main verb is future.

662. te encuentro bien, you are looking well.

672. Indicando... It is worth observing that the stage directions are always to be taken as referring to the following speech, not the preceding.

680-681. Con piedra blanca marco esta coincidencia felicísima, such a fortunate coincidence makes this a red-letter day for me.

683-684. cómo no se pueden, how impossible it is.

717. dependerá; see note to Hará, line 250.

718. salve; although few grammars mention it, one of the uses of the present and imperfect subjunctive in an independent verb is when the verb is accompanied by some word meaning 'perhaps,' usually quizás or tal vez. One can supply an expression of possibility and que, but the fact remains that this is just as good a case of a subjunctive in a main clause as is Vaya usted con Dios. The subjunctive is not required with a 'perhaps' word, however; cf. quizás desea, line 773.

724. Antes que nosotros está la cortesía; courtesy is to be considered before ourselves.

773 Quizás desea; compare the note above on line 718. The use of the indicative implies less doubt in the mind of the speaker than the subjunctive.

851. acabe de hundirse, be completely ruined. Acabar here has its original meaning, not its common idiomatic one.

908. la verdad, to tell the truth.

959. Dice que no soy, he says I am not the one he knew.

997. Dios nos tenga de su mano, God sustain us.

998. vuelven de despedir, return from accompanying.

ACTO SEGUNDO

Stage Direction. al izquierdo; supply extremo.

52. tú te sientas; the present indicative is here practically equivalent to an imperative.

70. Me parece que voy bien, I think I am taking the right course.

86. la he hecho buena; see Vocabulary under hacer. The feminine la is used in a number of idioms in a true neuter sense; at least, no obvious noun can be supplied. Such idioms are: habérselas con 'to deal with'; me la pagarás 'you shall pay for it'; pegársela 'to deceive'; correrla 'to go on a spree,' etc.

194. pasaría; the conditional of probability, used for past time as the future is for present time. Translate, you must have suffered.

204. Somonte; an imaginary place-name, like Socartes, which in the novel Marianela is applied to a similar mining region.

257. Aquí de la expresión de usted, etc., Here comes in your phrase, which touches me very much.

288. cosa alguna; alguno often replaces ninguno as a negative indefinite adjective, especially when following a singular noun. Here the negative is contained in the privative prefix in- of incapaz.

314. alguna; here used with a singular noun in a plural sense.

390. considero muy bien las razones que usted me da; can be interpreted in either of two ways: 1. as equal to considero con mucha atención las razones; 2. as equal to considero muy buenas las razones. The second way seems better to the editor.

400-403. Aprovéchala;... vencerás; León uses the familiar form of the verb, the tú form, as he would not do if his words were intended to be heard by María.

432. Después de vestida = después de estar vestida, or después de haberme vestido.

449. hago lo [mismo] que usted.

465. Vicenta; there are numberless proofs in Galdós' writings that he does not stick to observed or possible happenings as a genuine realist should. Here, every woman will perceive the extreme unlikelihood that a tailor-made gown can be worn at once with success and without alteration by another woman than the one it was designed for.

480. algún; see note to line 314.

522-523. porque María se quite; when is porque followed by the subjunctive?

607. que no sea de los demás, let it not belong to others.

617-620. Es Dios que me dice, etc.; this passage and many others show how mistaken are those who see in Galdós a bitter opponent of all revealed religion. In reality his blows have been directed only against intolerance.

655. por malo, because you are bad.

657. todo el mundo usually means everybody, but sometimes the whole world.

ACTO TERCERO

26. Por cierto que; see note to I, 357.

38. ¿Ha lugar, muesama? Menga uses in her speech country dialect forms, many of them very old in the language.

48. benditos riales; in the European countries where the metric system has been adopted, the illiterate classes still cling by preference to the old measures for currency, weight, and volume.

58. más sesenta; the original reads menos sesenta, but the sense requires más.

76. del quinto infierno; the hell of Dante and the medieval theologians contained nine separate circles. On Menga's lips, however, from the fifth hell means no more than 'from a very remote region,' 'from the North Pole.' Cf. la quinta esencia, 'quintessence.'

116. que; appears to have no more force than y in this type of phrase. Probably this use arose from the causal sense of que = porque.

140. todo el señorío, the subject of nos abonaremos, 'all we gentlefolk.'

189. Con ellas me va muy bien, I get along very well with them.

215. mantones de Manila; the gala ornament of the popular classes in Madrid and Andalusia. It is a large silk shawl, usually white or cream color, with florid embroidery in colors.

224-225. Saludo a María,... sabiduría; the words with which León jocularly greets Mariucha are taken from the Litany of the Blessed Virgin, commonly called the Litany of Loreto. The Latin phrases are—Stella matutina, Turris eburnea, Sedes sapientiae. Ora pro nobis is the response given by the congregation after each epithet.

226. ¡Cómo viene hoy! What good spirits to-day!

256. ¡Que si sabe! I should say she does!

295. loquinario; this word, like some others in this play (perchero, encajería), is not to be found in the very deficient dictionaries of the Castilian language. Its meaning is clear, however, and it occurs elsewhere in Galdós (Casandra, novela, pp. 78, 340).

308. con reflejos metálicos; having a thin iridescent metallic film technically called 'luster.' This particular kind of art pottery and tiles is a characteristic product of the Iberian peninsula. It has been traced back to the 12th century there, and is thought to have come originally from Persia. The best-known factory is at Manises, near Valencia, but others are in operation. On the Hispano-Moresque lustred ware one may consult Juan F. Riaño, Spanish Industrial Art, London, 1890, pp. 147-162; and Leonard Williams, The Arts and Crafts of Older Spain, London, 1907, II, 161-185.

317-318. partiditas... liquidacioncitas; doña Vicenta is fond of diminutives, which she uses with sarcastic intent in many cases.

371. Ya dije yo, that's what I thought!

585. ¡Ahora es ella! See note to II, 86. The neuter feminine is less common with the subject form of the pronoun; but examples are found. See Hanssen, Gramática histórica de la lengua castellana, § 502.

649. la tarántula; the tarantula is a kind of spider, taking its name from the city of Taranto in southern Italy. Tradition, which modern science cannot corroborate, has it that the bite of the tarantula produces a sort of sleeping sickness known as Tarantism. To rouse the sufferers a wild music (tarantella) was played, which caused them to dance till a profuse perspiration broke out, when the effects of the poison were thrown off.

659. por prometido = téngalo usted por prometido.

720. al don Cesáreo; the article is used here depreciatively: that fellow...!

777-778. como si lo viera, me le hacen a usted; the subject of viera is yo, me is the untranslated "ethical dative," and hacen is the indefinite third plural.

817. las [bromas] que yo gasto, what my jokes are like.

ACTO CUARTO

108-109. si fuera un coco de fea, if she were as homely as a hedge fence.

116. ella es grande; one cannot be quite sure whether this phrase means she is of high station, or she is a grandee. It has not been previously stated that the family of Alto-Rey enjoys the privileges of grandeeship. A grandee of Spain is allowed to keep his hat on in the king's presence, if a man; if a woman, to be seated before the queen (tomar la almohada).

141. Ya, para lo que falta..., To be sure, there's no need of saying more.

157-158. que no pueda yo...! to think I can't!

253-254. por agregarse notas = porque se agregan notas. In Spanish, a noun may be the subject of an infinitive introduced by a preposition.

478-479. que sacrifique su inclinación; the change to third person is probably to be explained by Filomena's turning to speak to Don Rafael.

533-534. Cesáreo, que vela por la familia; the son is jointly responsible with the father for the maintenance of the family and for the conduct and honor of the individual members. When the father is incapacitated, the son naturally assumes the entire burden.

548. a vivir por mí misma, to live my own life. The phrase sounds like Ibsen. For example, Nora's words, "I have just as sacred duties toward myself." (A Doll's House, last scene.)

ACTO QUINTO

21-23. querían... valiéranse; this combination of tenses is unusual. We do not have here a contrary to fact condition, as might at first appear. If that were the case, the imperfect indicative could not be employed in the if-clause. This is a simple condition in past time, the irregularity being in the use of valiéranse, an archaic way of expressing a sort of imperative,—debieron valerse, or válganse. Translate, since they wished... they should have employed.

23. valiéranse de otros de mi oficio; earlier in his life Galdós was inclined to deal harshly with members of the priesthood of the type to which he alludes here, but the agreeable figure of Don Rafael reveals the writer's growing sympathy for the clergy.

88-89. la que se le viene encima, what he's in for; la is the neuter feminine; see note to II, 86.

265. que, and. See Ramsey, Text-book of Modern Spanish, § 1421.

314. Yo soy estoico, y no temo ningún castigo. The philosophy of stoicism is especially attractive to Galdós, and he plays with it in several of his works. Thus, Orozco, of Realidad, strives to attain stoic perfection; and the chief characters of other plays sometimes act like stoics (Paternoy, Los condenados, II, 14; Pantoja, Electra, IV, 10; Berenguer, La fiera, III, 5). That the stoicism of Seneca (a Spaniard) is the fundamental trait of Spanish character, is the contention brilliantly set forth by Ángel Ganivet in the first dozen pages of his Idearium español.

325. un arma; the feminine indefinite article is by some writers changed to un under the same conditions in which la becomes el. Cf. un hacha in line 333.

338. la razón que me asiste, the right which is on my side.

VOCABULARY